Tuesday, February 28, 2012

According to Wikipedia, Artist trading cards are
miniature works of art (2 ½ X 3 ½ inches) produced in various media, including
dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolour, acrylic
paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects,
etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged. When
sold, they are usually referred to as art card editions and originals
(ACEOs).

I’ve painted about a dozen ATCs in the last couple of months
(all winter scenes in the Banff-Lake Louise area, which may not surprise you)
so you can guess which of these are mine, and which are painted by the people I
paint with on Wednesday mornings… Other artists whose works are shown here are Anne Millar (first row left), Evelyn Beaton (first, middle), Pat Routh (second row middle), Mickey Girard (second row right) and Harald Wetklo (third row left). Don't you agree, trading cards is a great way to collect original art work painted by your friends.

Friday, February 24, 2012

This scene, the water garden at the Banff National
Park Administration Building, is only slightly imaginary. It exists in at least partial reality, as I have painted these little stone bridges and
ponds in summer, with Mt.
Cascade, my favourite
mountain, shifted only slightly -- and this painting is derived from that composition. When I was there a couple of months ago, you
couldn’t even get up to this location and all the water had been drained from
the system, leaving only gaping pits and an occasional icicle where the falls
are supposed to be. Also, unlike the Bow
River into which it
flows, the water on this mountain is not glacial – so its colour is imaginary
as well.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Needless to say, I’m not claiming this was painted on location on my WestJet flight to Calgary, but it is based on two of the photos I took from there.The painting was supposed to be an abstract but, as usual, I got caught up including virtually everything I’d recognized as we glided toward the airport – bank towers, Calgary Tower (topped by a red revolving restaurant) Suncor (the fact the building is red is only part of the reason it was initially referred to as Red Square) followed by the recently-completed Bow Building(designed by Foster + Partners – they also designed the Gherkin at 30 St. Mary Axe in London).In the distance are the Rockies, closer in is the Canada Olympic Park (all you can see is the ski jump) and to the right of that, the Alberta Children’s Hospital (sometimes called the Lego hospital, if that helps you find it).

Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Virtual Paintout is on the islandof Elba in Italy this month. It didn’t take long, motoring around on Google Streeview, to find several beautiful ‘paintings’ overlooking Capoliveri, and I chose the one I thought had the best view of Tuscan Archipelago NationalPark in the distance. According to legend, the Tuscan Archipelago, of which Elba is the largest island, originated from jewels that slipped off the neck of Venus, the goddess of beauty and love, and fell into the Tyrrhenian Sea.It’s easy to see how that story got started – isn’t this place spectacular!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

A series of overpasses have been built to get wildlife safely across the TransCanada Highway in Banff National Park. These sculpted structures, with thickly-treed rock gardens, are said to be the best looking (well, most recognizable, anyway) wildlife crossings in the world! They looked pretty spectacular in the late afternoon alpenglow during our drive from Lake Louise to Banff just after Christmas.

They have reduced the road-kill incidence by almost 80%. Movement-triggered video cameras have recorded over 200,000 wildlife crossings – mainly elk, deer and bears, with smaller numbers of cougars, grizzlies and wolves. And two wolverines, which caused considerable excitement, as they’re said to be Canada’s most elusive wildlife. I thought the Sasquatch was our most elusive wildlife.

About Me

Charlene Brown is a Canadian painter who started writing about painting trips during the ten years she and her husband lived in Dubai. The Gulf Weekly began publishing her accounts of painting trips in that part of the Arabian peninsula -- then said they might consider other countries, even such exotic locations as Canada! She had written about painting trips in over twenty countries by the time her husband retired and they returned to Canada to live.